"This is the greatest moment of my life."

This sentence was said to me countless times during my time working as a flash quote reporter for Olympic handball. That's a pretty loaded statement and no matter how many times I heard it, it never got old. The first time an athlete said that to me was when Jung Suyoung of team Korea scored a tying goal with seconds ticking off the clock to end the game. When I spoke to him after the game, albeit through a translator, he could not stop smiling and the joy on his face was enough to make me smile as well.

For an athlete like Jung to prepare his whole life for a shot at Olympic glory, scoring such an important goal for his team was the greatest feeling he could have achieved, and for me, being able to talk to him during that moment was an honor. Korea did not end up winning a medal in Beijing, but Jung Suyoung will never forget the goal he scored - the greatest moment of his life and I will never forget talking to him afterwards.

Another time I heard similar words, were from Iker Romero of the Spanish team. In the semifinals Spain lost to Iceland and Romero could not have been more devastated. Spain came to Beijing in search of gold or silver and now the best they could do was bronze. However, the relief that Romero felt when Spain upset Croatia, the defending Olympic gold medallists, was indescribable. Though winning the bronze was not necessarily the happiest moment of Romero's life the sense of accomplishment he described to me while I spoke to him after the match was incredible. Spain earned medals in previous world championships and European Championships and as Romero described to me, "I will take the three medals I have won in the past four years, put them in my room, and when I look at them I will think to myself, 'This wasn't so bad.'" I really thought that was a great way to put things in perspective.

However, the greatest moment had to have been from speaking with Iceland's Sigfus Sigurdsson after Iceland won the silver medal. Iceland was not expected to win a medal in this tournament, especially considering the last medal the tiny nation of 300,000 people won at a Summer games was in 1956. Sigurdsson is one of Iceland's emotional leader, standing at 6'6" and weighing in at 251 pounds. He wears his emotions on his sleeve and cried countless tears of joy as he was presented with his silver medal. Before Sigurdsson came through the mixed zone, the president of Iceland was speaking with some media and told us that this was the greatest sporting achievement in Iceland's history. When I told that Sigurdsson, his face lit up. He said he couldn't wait to get home because he thought the entire population of Iceland would be waiting for him at the airport. We were also able to share a laugh when he exclaimed, "Today I am the happiest man in Asia!"

As a journalist, capturing the emotion of a moment is one of the most important things. Being able to share the greatest moment of someone's life with someone is an amazing feeling. After seeing the joy on these athletes' faces as they achieved their own form of glory has proved to me that the Olympic dream is still alive. These athletes will undoubtedly never forget these moments for their entire lives and having the honor of sharing it with them is a memory that will stay with me forever.